The foremost thing to do is to decide whether you just want to get rid of your cell phone or dispose it once and for all. In order to get rid of your old device, you can just sell it off or give it to someone in need. On the other hand, if you intend to dispose of your cell phone, one of the best measures of the same is recycling.
One of the most convenient option is to sell/exchange old cell phone. An old cell phone may not fetch you the amount of money that you paid in buying it, but it will surely fetch you a substantial part of the same. Several mobile stores give you the option of trading your old cell phone with a new one - wherein you would get a significant discount on the new unit that you buy. On the other hand, if you don't want to buy a new model by resorting to this exchange offer, you still get to sell it in return of pure cash - again not as much as you invested, but a significant amount. You can also sell it to repair shops, wherein they will disassemble the device and use its parts in cell phone repairs. While the models become obsolete in a short span of time, their parts have a relatively longer lifespan, owing to which they can be used in new models as well. There also exist some websites which buy your cell phones, and put them for further use.
If you are not short on cash, you can go ahead and simply donate your old cell phone. There exist several charity organizations which will take your cell phone and either give it to the needy or sell it and collect money for charity. One such charity organization is the 911 Cell Phone Bank - which collects old cell phones and gives it to people in need of it. One of the best parts of the old cell phone is that it can call 911 even when it is inactive - and that's the principle which the 911 Cell Phone Bank follows. They provide free emergency cell phones to people who are in need of it including victims, crime witnesses, senior citizens, etc. You can also donate your cell phone to the schools in your neighborhood. If nothing, they can at least sell these cell phones at charity events and earn some money for a cause. These charity organizations/schools are also able to earn a decent sum of money by selling these cell phones to recycling agencies, and use the same for welfare.
How to Dispose Broken Cell Phones?
Even if you decide that you just want to dispose your old/broken cell phone, it's not as easy as you think. In fact, several jurisdictions have laws which prohibit dumping of cell phones and other such electronic goods, as they can pose a threat to the environment. Before lithium came into the picture, nickel cadmium was an important component of cell phone batteries. Being highly toxic in nature, it was considered to be a threat for the environment back then. Even though lithium is not as toxic as cadmium, it - along with various other parts of the handsets, do contribute to environmental pollution, and therefore it is wise to dispose of old cell phones in a safe manner.
The best bet in this case is to give your cell phone for recycling. Taking into consideration the importance of recycling, several service providers/manufacturers have come up with the novel practice of collecting old cell phones from their users, and recycling or refurbishing them. Not just the handsets, but even the batteries and chargers can be recycled. You don't even need to pay to get your cell phone recycled, and the charity organizations which collect cell phones and give them to recycling firms are paid by these firms. Even the U.S. Postal Service has introduced a Mail Back program wherein you can mail your old mobile handsets to recycling firms - without having to pay any postage charges. If you intend to avail this facility, you can collect free envelopes found in 1,500 Post Offices across the country.
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